Game apparatus.



.H. W. WESTERBERG.

GAME APPARATUS. APPLICATION FILED APR. 9. 1909.

956,244. Patented Apr. 26, 1910.,

W! TNESSES AHAM co. m'oro-umosvwums. WA$MINGTON. 0.1;

.NITED STATES ATENT QFFIQ GAME APPARATUS.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HARRY W. WESTER- BERG, a citizen of the UnitedStates, and a resident of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State ofNew York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in GameApparatus, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to certain improvements in game apparatus such asare particularly designed and adapted for parlor or indoor use, and hasfor its object to pro vide an apparatus of this general character of asimple and comparatively inexpensive nature which shall present certainfeatures of novelty and improvement, whereby greater skill is requiredon the part of the players, and greater entertainment is afforded in theuse of the apparatus.

The invention consists in certain novel features of the construction,and combinations and arrangements of the several parts of the improvedgame apparatus, whereby certain important advantages are attained, andthe apparatus is rendered simpler, less expensive, and otherwise betteradapted and more convenient for use, all as will be hereinafter fullyset forth.

The novel features of the invention will be carefully defined in theclaims.

In order that my invention may be the better understood, I will nowproceed to describe the same with reference to the accompanyingdrawings, wherein- Figure 1 is a perspective view showing the improvedgame apparatus applied upon a table or the like, in position for use;Fig. 2 is a view showing the folding inclosure strip; Fig. 3 is aperspective view showing the lifter forming part of my improvedapparatus, and Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken diametrically throughthe lifter and illustrating the operation thereof.

As shown in these views the improved game apparatus comprises aninclosing strip or member formed from elongated sections 1, 1 of flatmaterial having hinged connections 2 at their ends so that they may becompactly folded when the apparatus is not required for use, and may beconveniently rested and supported upon a table or the like, so as toproject above the same to form an inclosure within which the game may beplayed, as represented in Fig. 1. The opposite ends of the strip haveapertures 3, 3 adapted to register with each other for the Specificationof Letters Patent.

Application filed April 9, 1909.

Patented Apr. 26, 1910. Serial No. 488,940.

passage of a removable pin or fastening de vice 4, so that they may besecured together during use of the game and attached to permit theinclosing member to be folded when not required for use. -Within theinclosure or field formed upon the supporting surface by the sectionalinclosing member, are arranged trays or receptacles 6, 6 which may be ofany preferred formation, being herein shown as made circular in form andprovided with raised edge walls so as to be adapted to retain withinthem the marbles or sphericalmembers 5, 5, with which the game isplayed, as will be hereinafter explained.

The apparatus also comprises a lifter which is indicated as a whole at 7upon the drawings, and comprises an annular body portion 8 provided atone side with a handle 9 adapted to be grasped by the player and havinga central opening 10 produced in its bottom. The annular'body portion 8may be conveniently formed from metal and is provided upon its innerupper surface with an inclined annular track or channel 11, surroundingthe opening 10 and sloping upwardly therefrom toward the perimeter ofsaid body portion which is formed with a raised edge wall 12, as clearlyshown in Figs. 3 and 4:.

In the use of the improved game appara tus one of the balls or members 5is picked up by the player with the aid of the lifter which for thispurpose is rested upon the supporting surface surrounding the ball ormember 5, and given a gyratory movement such as will operate to causesaid ball or member to rise upon and roll around the track or channel 11so that the ball or member may be lifted from the table by the player,as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1. If the gyratory movement be toorapid the ball or member 5 will rise over the edge wall 12 of the lifterand drop to the table, and if such movement be too slow said member 5will fall through the opening 10 at the bottom of the lifter. Said ballor member being thus supported within the lifter by the skill of theplayer in moving the latter, is positioned above one of the trays 6 anddropped therein by varying the movement of the lifter.

Any convenient rules may be adopted for the use of the apparatus and anynumber of players may participate. The play may be single against timeor in partnership; single players obtaining the most balls or depositingthe most balls in the adversarys trays, &c.

From the above description it will be seen that the improved gameapparatus is of an extremely simple and comparatively inexpensivenature, and is particularly well adapted for use by reason of the skillrequired upon the aart of the players, and the entertainment a orded byit, and it will also be obvious from the above description that theapparatus is capable of some modification without material departurefrom the principles and spirit of the invention, and for this reason Ido not desire to be understood as limiting myself to the preciseconstruction and arrangement of the parts herein set forth. For examplein some cases the inclosing member and the trays may be varied or evendispensed with altogether or replaced by equivalent parts of any preferred kind.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent is:

1. In game apparatus, a lifter having a body portion provided with anopening at its bottom and having a track extended around said openingand adapted to be traversed by a ball or the like.

2. In game apparatus, a lifter having a body portion provided with anopening at its bottom and having a track extended around said openingand adapted to be traversed by a ball or the like, the surface of saidtrack being inclined toward the margin of said opening.

3. In game apparatus, a lifter having a body portion provided with araised edge wall, and having a track produced at its lower part adaptedto be traversed by a ball or the like, the lower portion of said lifterbeing provided with an opening extended through .it and adapted for thedischarge of such ball upon a suitable field when the lifter is elevatedabove such field.

In witness whereof I have hereunto signed my name in the presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

HARRY V. IVESTERBERG.

\Vitnesses J D. GAPLINGER, A. F. CoNNE'rT.

